Another .36 cal Rifle from a Plank

[longcruise]

Fast forward nine years and I have a little time between rocket testing contracts to start in on another rifle...

So..... After all my fruitless struggles, I finally find out that it IS rocket science.

That trick with the pivot tower for the trigger is pure gold.

 

[davec2]

I completed the barrel keys. As I have done in the past, I milled a slot in the body of the keys and then riveted a very thin leaf spring in the slot. Eliminates the issue of fitting keys "just right" and then having things wear or having the change in humidity make the keys too loose or to tight.





Still haven't decided where to go with engraving and carving on this rifle.....so, as usual, I'm just going to "wing it" and start in. The designs will have to grow and morph as they develop. First step was to put on the lower butt stock molding lines. I used a trick I learned here on ALR to lay them out this time. I used a strip of label maker tape to establish the first line and then just ran a small knife edge file along the tape for a few strokes......worked great....



After the initial groove was established, I used a tiny bead scraper I made to make the second line and shape the bead......



Then decided I would do something different with the cheek piece edge. I usually do some sort of concave / convex molding. This time I ran two beads (with the same scraper) and then did a rope like decoration on a convex surface between the beads.....don't know if I like it yet...?





While I'm deciding, I went ahead with the lock panel molding start.......

 

[PathfinderNC]

Dave, I boggles my mind at your artistic talent and skills. You certainly are an inspiration

 

[davec2]

One thing I forgot to take pictures of when I was shaping the butt area around the cheek piece.....for the first time I used this.....



Like a computer, this angle grinder, with a 36 grit disk, will allow one to screw things up at the speed of light. However, I hate removing the wood on the cheek piece side in slow motion with chisels so I thought I would try this method. It worked great to rapidly remove a lot of unwanted wood and get me very close to a surface that did not take much additional wood removal with a small spoke shave and scrapers to get this.....besides, I am old enough where I can't afford to move too slowly. Eight bells might call me out before I get the next rifle done...



So....on with a little more peripheral carving while trying to decide on some major carving issues....Using the same technique as the molding on the lower edge of the butt, I ran a molding bead along the fore stock upper edge from the lock beaver tail to the rear ram rod pipe.






I also took a whack at a sketch of the carving around the barrel breach tang.....Haven't decided if i like it yet....



While I am deciding, I made up the hinge for the patch box. In other posts I have explained how and why I do this, b ut is has become my usual method for making a patch box hinge and is, to me, much simpler and less trouble than bending the knuckles out of the box plates themselves. First step is the take two pieces of 1/8" brass rod and drill them lengthwise with a 1/16" through hole, and then cut two pieces of 1/16" thick pieces of brass plate ~ 3/8" wide and 1 1/2" long.





The two rods are then silver brazed to the edges of the plates....





Acid pickled and cleaned up......



Cutting and filing the knuckles.......



Finished hinge. I will show later how this hinge is prepared for and attached to the box parts in a historically correct manner.

 

[davec2]

Making a side plate is not really any big deal (unless elaborately carved and cast in silver like some of Smart Dog’s plates) but is often a bit of a challenge from both the design and the size standpoint. Unless you purchase a side plate that has the hole spacing that is compatible with the lock you are using, you will have to make or modify a side plate.

The design is often an issue for me as well. I know it is not required, but I like to match the lock side and the side plate side stock profiles. I do that by first inletting the lock where I want it, drilling and tapping for the lock bolts, and then shaping the area all around the lock. Then I take a piece of clear mylar type material and punch two holes in it that line up with the lock bolts. I put the plastic sheet in place with the lock bolts and trace around the lock molding with a fine tipped Sharpie on the plastic. The plastic is then cut out with scissors on the traced line and placed on the opposite side of the gun, again using the lock bolts for alignment, so that its outline can be traced on that side of the gun.

Often, for me at least, various side plated designs just don’t look good with the panel outline. I end up making many sketches of potential side plates before I settle in on one that is both a design that I like and that balances with the space available on the stock panel. Here are a couple of pictures of the mylar template…..







And here is the side plate being cut out of 0.090” thick brass stock with a jeweler’s saw….








The finished plate (minus the engraving to come yet).

 

[davec2]

I did get the side plate installed (inlet ....or is it "inletted"?) last night.....

 

[Spikebuck]

But I would like to do something a bit different this time around and would like to see other parts of the Noll and / or Nunnamacher rifles. Does anyone have a lead on more and better pictures of these rifles ??

Thanks

Dave, I looked in the book "An intimate look at The American Longrifle - Its Art and Evolution"

They have three Noll rifles in full color and the one on pp 113-117 uses the same patchbox finial and it looks like some of the carving just forward of it. The lid and sideplates are more ornate with piercings in the sideplates. Very attractive. The rifle itself is what I would call "hyper decorated."

Not exactly what you are looking for, but if you are interested in Noll's work, these three rifles are full color photos with close ups.

No Nunnamacher guns in the book.

I bought this book based on a recommendation from Dave Person (I was complaining how I wished RCA had better pictures! )

 

[davec2]

Dave, I looked in the book "An intimate look at The American Longrifle - Its Art and Evolution"

They have three Noll rifles in full color and the one on pp 113-117 uses the same patchbox finial and it looks like some of the carving just forward of it. The lid and sideplates are more ornate with piercings in the sideplates. Very attractive. The rifle itself is what I would call "hyper decorated."

Not exactly what you are looking for, but if you are interested in Noll's work, these three rifles are full color photos with close ups.

No Nunnamacher guns in the book.

I bought this book based on a recommendation from Dave Person (I was complaining how I wished RCA had better pictures! )

Spikebuck,

Thanks so much !!! I'll look for the book. Much appreciated...

 

[davec2]

First cuts.......



Starting the refining process. Not done yet but getting close.....

 

[davec2]

Time has come to make some of the required screws. Made the two lock screws and the tang screw today. The forward lock screw has a reduced diameter in the middle. The web between the bottom of the barrel channel and the top pf the ram rod hole is very thin, so the necked portion allows the ram rod to pass without tapering the end of the ram rod.






Completed screws. Then setting up in the slotting jig for saw cutting slots. Also counter bored the side plate for the screw heads......

 

[davec2]

Did the preliminary carving around the rear entry pipe.....pretty much a duplicate of the barrel tang carving...here is the start....




Nearing completion......



Pencil layout for the carving behind the cheek......

 

[davec2]

And it begins.......just the start but beginning to take shape.....

 

[davec2]

Getting closer to a finished background and starting sculpting. In the past I would work like crazy to get the background as flat and smooth and possible and then have to start all over again after whiskering. Now I get everything close and then wet the carving....do a quick re-smooth...wet again...let dry...and then do the final "beat yourself senseless" work to get the sculpting and background as good as possible. Here is the current state of the butt carving with the first application of water. Waiting for it to dry now.....





OK.....done for now. I usually go back several time to try to correct things I see along the way while I'm doing other things on the rifle.....but for now, I'll stop futzing with it before I mess something up/

 

[Jim K]

Simply amazing. I tried my hand at gun building and found out I’m not a builder. I sure appreciate your talent and thank you for taking us along on your build!

 

[Terrier]

I’m simply amazed.

 

[davec2]

My usual method is to drill the plate for the screws and screw it into place on the stock before I start to cut in around the plate with a knife....



I began the inletting and was making good progress ....and here, because I apparently wasn't paying enough attention, I made an absolutely rookie mistake !!! The stock toe is tapered and gets narrower toward the lower edge of the stock. As I removed material to inlet the plate, the recess for the straight end of the plate gets wider....and was soon wider than the plate !!! Options to correct the stupid mistake: 1) Cut a new plate and try to fit it into the existing inlet. 2) Just make a plain rectangular toe plate and cut away the inlet completely. 3) Reshape the lower edge of the stock from the trigger guard all the way to the toe. 4) Widen the existing toe plate.

I picked option 4 and ended up silver brazing two very tightly fitted, very narrow brass strips along both sides of the toe plate. Here is the plate with the brazed on edges...



Back in place on the stock for filing to match the existing stock contour.....



Final fitting completed.....



The additional brass is now very narrow and should disappear in the border engraving that will be applied to the toe plate. No one but me (and whoever across the entire world who reads this post) will know I messed the toe plate up by being inattentive to detail....

 

[smokepolehall]

Your rifle is a Fantastic build !

 

[davec2]

Thought I would do a little file work wedding band decoration on the muzzle cap and now repaired ram rod end. Although I could do the file work with needle files and the lathe on the ram rod tip, I had to try to match the bands on the muzzle cap with just a jeweler's saw and needle files......took me a while.... ???







Ultimately there will be some engraving as well and the whole thing will look much better with a little applied patina....By the way, the photos make it look like the bands do not match between the ram rod and the cap, but they do...and the cap and ram rod end are exactly the same length. Optical delusion in the photos.

 

[Thomas.bill92]

A true craftsman!

 

[Spikebuck]

Well, Dave...you know the old saying that the difference between a good builder and a great one is being able to fix/hide mistakes better! That toeplate looks flawless!